Many professional and amateur shooting competitors and enthusiasts prefer to reload bullets to save money, to improve accuracy, to accommodate specialty ammunition needs, or simply because they enjoy it. Reloading works for most kinds of ammunition, which consists of a cartridge or case, primer, powder, and a bullet. To reload bullets, several pieces of equipment can be desirable including a reloading press. Reloading bullets requires that the case be first pressed to factory specifications, the old primer removed, and then loaded with a new primer and powder. After the case is loaded with powder, a new bullet can be seated on top of the powder.
The types of presses suitable for reloading include single stage reloading presses that hold one die at a time, turret presses that hold multiple dies simultaneously, and progressive reloading presses that include multiple stations in its shell plate such that each cycle of the press handle progresses the case from one station to the next. For example, the first station is for sizing and decapping the case, the second station is often used for inserting a new primer, and the third station is usually used for filling a measured charge of powder using a powder dropper. The fourth station can be used for a powder check, which is used to confirm that the amount of powder in the case is roughly correct, and later stations are generally used to place, seat and crimp the bullet. Progressive reloading presses can be manual-index or auto-index and are commonly used by pistol shooters and semi-automatic rifle shooters or anyone with high volume reloading needs.
To insert a new primer with a progressive reloading press, typically a primer seating tool cooperates with new primers introduced with a standard primer tube. A primer tube can also be used with a dedicated priming tool as well. Standard primer tubes hold 100 primers in sequence. To load the primer tube, primers are either dropped into the top end of the primer tube with an automated primer filler or loaded into the bottom end of the primer tube if picked up manually. Primers should be loaded so that the flat side of the primer faces away from the top end of the primer tube. A removable stopper, pin, or cap sits at the opposite end to prevent the primers from exiting the tube prematurely. Once the tube is loaded with the desired number of primers, it is ready to be attached to the primer tool or to be used to transfer primers to a fixed primer tube that is part of the primer tool. To transfer the primers to a fixed primer tube, the tube is placed over the fixed primer tube and aligned with chamfers. Then, the stopper is removed to allow all of the primers to slide into the fixed primer tube. To dispense primers directly from the moveable primer tube, the tube is placed so that individual primers can be dispensed, and the stopper is removed.
Unfortunately, loading primers into a primer tube is a tedious and time-consuming task. Primers are very small (just 4.4 mm in diameter) and almost impossible to handle by hand, yet it is critical that the primers are loaded correctly. In order to facilitate proper loading, several primer filler solutions are commercially available. The simplest solution is to use a flip tray with a serrated surface. The user shakes and slides the tray around to orient all the primers so that they lay anvil-side up. Then, using a lid, the user flips the tray so the primers are oriented anvil-side-down. The anvil-side-down primers can then be manually picked up one-by-one using a pickup tube, which is then flipped over before loaded in a primer tool or machine and eventually into an empty shell case. Unfortunately, shaking the tray and then picking up individual primers remains tedious and slow. Another option is to use a semi-automatic vibrating primer filler after using a flip tray to properly orient the primers. The vibrating primer filler attaches to a flip tray and then, when activated, it vibrates the tray to coax the primers toward an opening that cooperates with the top end of the primer tube. The primers then fall into the tube. Unfortunately, one still must take significant time to shake and flip the tray to orient the primers.
Fully automated primer fillers are also available commercially. In general, such fillers use a vibrating bowl or tray to deliver primers to a ramp. Once the primers are on the ramp, they travel upwards to an output location that cooperates with the top end of a primer tube. If the primers are upside down as they travel along the ramp, they fall off and back into the bowl or tray as they travel over a notched section of the ramp. Unfortunately, these automated primer fillers are noisy, expensive, slow, and unreliable. Primers don't move well in the bowl, primers often get stuck at the output location, and occasionally upside-down primers make it past the notched section of the ramp and load into the tube incorrectly, which is a costly and time-consuming mistake. When primers are incorrectly oriented in the primer tube, they will be seated the wrong way in the ammunition. Once a primer is seated incorrectly, the entire bullet is lost, or one must spend additional time taking the loaded ammunition apart. In addition to the reliability issues, these commercially available automated systems run on a timer rather than with a counter, and they have an unpredictable output speed.
Because filling a primer tube correctly and efficiently is very useful when reloading ammunition, it would be desirable to provide an automated system that collates and loads a primer tube with greater accuracy. Additionally, it would be desirable to count primers as they fill the primer tube, to fill the tube with less noise and with greater speed, to reduce jams when filing the tube, and to accommodate many brands and versions of primer tubes. Such a primer filler would be a notable advance in the firearm and ammunition arts.